What we learned from college hoops' opening weekend

Nov. 13, 2012
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New Connecticut Huskies head coach Kevin Ollie talks after head coach Jim Calhoun formally announced his retirement after 26 years as head coach for the UConn men's basketball team during a news conference at Gampel Pavilion. / David Butler II, US Presswire

by Scott M Gleeson, USA TODAY Sports

by Scott M Gleeson, USA TODAY Sports

The first weekend of college basketball season always seems like a mixed bag. In some cases, we get to see if a team is actually as good as it was hyped up to be or we find out if the magic from last season is still there for some teams. Then on the other hand, we have cases where we don't find out anything at all, particularly in the instance of "sacrificial lamb" smaller schools visiting power conferences.

In this season's opening weekend of college hoops we had a plethora of questions answered, but we also saw the unpredictable-surprising wins, one deflating loss from a player ruled ineligible, and of course, carrier games cancelled from wet floors.

John Calipari was surprised when his young Kentucky squad was ranked as the third best team in the country in preseason polls, calling voters "goofballs."

After the Wildcats' first game of the season, now we understand why.

Sure, Kentucky won the national championship last season, but thanks to the NBA Draft, Calipari's entire roster was virtually wiped out. Still, Calipari has been dominant in recruiting top high school players (who end up leaving for the NBA after one year) and again landed another incredible freshmen class highlighted by top prospect Nerlens Noel.

But in Kentucky's opener on Friday vs. Maryland at Barclays Center, it was two non-freshmen heroes - junior back-up point guard Jarrod Polson (10 points in the game's final minutes, two clinching free throws in the final seconds) and sophomore Kyle Witjer (team-high 19 points on four 3-pointers) - who helped the Wildcats prevail in a 72-69 win.

In a game that featured Noel and promising 7-footer Willie Cauley-Stein, the best big man on the court wasn't wearing a Kentucky uniform. Yes, Maryland fans, Alex Len is your messiah (much better than Terrell Stoglin last season). The 7-1 sophomore had 23 points, 12 rebounds and four blocks, almost enough to help his team charge all the way back from a second-half double-digit deficit. Aside from learning that Maryland will be a force in the ACC if now-eligible Dez Wells can get back to his Xavier form, it's safe to say Kentucky is far from what preseason polls indicated. That's not to say the Wildcats won't eventually be contenders, but it is evident that it will take time for Calipari to create chemistry with this group. Expect Kentucky to be further exposed in a tougher test against Duke (Tuesday, 9:30 p.m. ET).

We might have witnessed the end of the game-on-ship era

What we found out last year: Games on boats are a great way to tip off the season. What we found out this year: Only if it's played on the West Coast. Sunday's Syracuse-San Diego State game played on the flight deck of the decommissioned aircraft carrier USS Midway on a sunny windy afternoon worked well, just as last season's North Carolina-Michigan State game on a ship was the perfect start-up to 2011-12. (The most surprising thing was that Syracuse played on the road-and won 62-49-over a ranked opponent).

Friday's games on the East Coast were not as fortunate. This year's Carrier Classic ship experiment game between Ohio State and Marquette was canceled (and won't be rescheduled) because the court on the USS Yorktown in Charleston, S.C., turned into an ice rink. Marquette freshman Steve Taylor displays the slip-and-slide court here.

The game was about more than basketball, since it's played as a tribute to the servicemen. But when the scene features players, coaches and servicemen toweling the floor, it might be time to rethink things. Still, Ohio State athletic director Gene Smith told USA TODAY Sports' Nicole Auerbach "he'd definitely do it again."

And the Marqutte-Ohio State game wasn't the only blunder. The Georgetown-Florida game was called after halftime because game officials were dealing with similar slippery floor issues aboard the USS Bataan in Jacksonville, Fla.

"This is heartbreaking - especially because we were ready to come out in the second half and give an extremely better effort," Georgetown junior Markel Starks told The Washington Post. "But obviously there's nothing we can do about this."

The biggest loser in all of this is surely NBC Sports Network, who had the awful luck of airing both air craft carrier games that had floor condensation issues. Ratings killer.

Did Kevin Ollie take a step towards a better contract?

One idea that did work out well was an game played in Europe to start the season, as Connecticut and Michigan State played at Ramstein Air Base in Germany, home of more than 17,000 servicemen.

But that story took the backseat to one of the biggest story lines from opening games in a statement win for Connecticut's Kevin Ollie. All of the questions and towering expectations about replacing legendary coach Jim Calhoun won't go away, but after a 66-62 upset win over Michigan State in the Armed Forces Classic, Ollie picked up that signature victory that all first-year coaches desire.

If any coach in the country has something to prove this season, it was Ollie, who's on a mission that seems dim as he's operating on a one-year contract while trying to motivate an undermanned team that is barred from postseason (Big East, NIT, NCAA tournaments). It seemed as though Connecticut was using Ollie as a fill-in this season before gunning down a high-profile coach, but Friday's win showed Ollie's ability, and it also was a statement for the Huskies. They played with a scrappiness and tenacity, looking like the ranked opponent all night -a stark contrast from last year's underachieving team that bowed out in its first game of the NCAAs with an upset loss to Iowa State.

The Cinderella hangover effect

C.J. McCollum became the star of last year's NCAA tournament when his 30-point performance propelled 15th-seeded Lehigh past Duke in a 75-70 tournament shocker. And his 36-point performance in a loss to Baylor reaffirmed his greatness on the college level.

But let's remember that the only reason McCollum was discovered was because Lehigh beat Duke. It was only the first game of the season, but Baylor completely destroyed Lehigh 99-77.

It reminds us that great players from mid-majors don't become stars unless they play in the NCAA tournament. We saw the hangover effect with Steph Curry. After Davidson's storybook Elite Eight finish in his junior season, his senior season-no matter how well he played or developed at the point guard position-went unnoticed because Davidson didn't reach the NCAA Tournament again.

McCollum and Lehigh could run into the same problem, as conference foe Bucknell looked more like a giant killer with a notable win over Purdue Friday. The odds of Lehigh reaching the NCAA tournament without winning the Patriot League are slim to none, so all sings point to Bucknell, led by big man Mike Muscala, to be the team standing in Lehigh's way for a second stab at the NCAAs.

UCLA's waiting game on Muhammad

UCLA dominated Indiana State 86-59 in its opener-a tribute to John Wooden in the team's new $136-million arena (Wooden coached at ISU before becoming a legend at UCLA). And 6-9 freshman Kyle Anderson (10 points, nine rebounds, five assists) looks like the unique multidimensional point-forward he was hyped up to be. But the Bruins' real loss was could be felt in future games. Late Friday night we learned that Shabazz Muhammad was ruled ineligible after the NCAA determined he had accepted extra benefits. Several fans were seen wearing "Free Shabazz" shirts, the most notable being Red Hot Chili Peppers bassist Flea (random alert). Muhammad then gave him a shout-out on Twitter.

The Los Angeles Times is reporting that a decision on when Muhammad will be eligible could come as early as this week and that it could be 10 games. The Bruins should get him back later in the season, but it still put a damper on a promising season for Ben Howland's young team.

"We are extremely disappointed that the NCAA has made this determination," Guerrero told The Times. "I feel bad for the kid."

Notable scores, upsets, buzzer-beaters

-Alabama sophomore guard Trevor Lacey's game-winning three-pointer in the closing seconds gave the Crimson Tide a 70-67 win over South Dakota State Friday, escaping an upset to an underrated mid-major. Here's the video.

-Florida took out its aggression from its opener being canceled vs. Georgetown by pummeling Alabama State 84-35 on Sunday. Meanwhile Georgetown had a not-as-comfortable 61-55 win over Duquesne.

-Notre Dame held on, but looked sluggish in a potential upset for a 58-49 win over mid-major Evansville on Saturday.